Witness History

In 1998, the Snake game made its debut on mobile phones. It is known for its simple yet addictive gameplay and played a major role in popularising mobile gaming.

Taneli Armanto is the man responsibl…

On 1 May 2004, the European Union went through its biggest ever enlargement. 10 countries joined including eight from the former Soviet Union’s sphere of influence. For some, it was the moment the Ea…

During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese VietCong guerrillas built a vast network of tunnels in the south of the country as part of the insurgency against the South Vietnamese government and their Am…

When South Vietnam fell to communist forces in 1975, most could not escape.

In the last days, the United States airlifted its remaining personnel and some high-ranking Vietnamese officials - but mill…

In the late 1970s, Vietnam was one of the poorest countries in the world. Its economy had been destroyed by war with the USA, a trade embargo, and the communist government's restriction of private en…

On 30 April 1945 Adolf Hitler killed himself in a bunker in the German capital Berlin as Soviet Red Army soldiers closed in. But first he married his lover Eva Braun, and dictated his will. In 1989, …

In September 1987, Othello was staged at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg during the apartheid regime in South Africa. The Immorality Act, which banned sexual relationships between white people and…

Forty years ago, on 23 April 1985, Coca-Cola decided to change the secret formula of its fizzy drink, in a bid to be market leaders.

They launched a new flavour called ‘New Coke’.

But, after a public…

An 18-second clip of a young man standing in front of an elephant enclosure at San Diego Zoo in California, describing their “really long trunks” was the first video to be posted onto YouTube in Apri…

In April 1944, the Allies planned Exercise Tiger to practise their landing on France's Normandy beaches ahead of D-Day. During the rehearsal, a German fleet attacked, sinking two allied ships. Around…

In November 1995, a proposal of having an annual day focused on celebrating books was put forward at the UNESCO conference in Paris.

The idea came from a long-established Spanish celebration ‘The Day …

Fifty years after the start of the genocide that wiped out a quarter of its eight million population, Cambodia remains one of the most heavily landmined countries in the world.

More than 65,000 people…

In April 1975 the four-year rule of the brutal Khmer Rouge began in Cambodia.

Up to two million people are thought to have died - many summarily executed, or starved to death in the communist regime.…

In 1993, a literal lightbulb moment led to the invention of the first white light emitting diode (LED).

These LEDs are now used to light up everything from our streets to our homes to this screen you…

In April 2005, nine young Australians were caught trying to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin out of Indonesia.

The Bali Nine, as they became known, faced a maximum sentence of death by firing squad under Indo…

In December 1989, Germany’s ‘Green Belt’ was born.

For more than 40 years, the country had been split by a 1,400km border and, in the decades the so-called ‘death zone’ had existed, life flourished e…

On 19 April 1995, a huge truck bomb killed 168 people in a government building in Oklahoma City, US. There were 19 children among the dead and more than 500 people were injured. One of the perpetrato…

In December 2011, Leymah Gbowee was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her role in helping to end the devastating civil war in Liberia.

She had mobilised thousands of women to take part in daily, non-v…

On 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building in Berlin, which was home to the German Parliament, was burned down.

This was a key event in the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship.

Berlin-born journali…

In 1991, a horrific civil war erupted between rival warlords in Somalia. A US-led United Nations mission tried to restore order and provide humanitarian aid. But, the mission ended in an embarrassing…